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Monday, May 2, 2016

Fifteen years with Type 1 Diabetes. All the highs, lows and
in-betweens.

I was diagnosed on May 6, 2001. I’ve told the story so many
times - injecting oranges, the nurse yelling at me for having cake and the
initial car ride home.

I thought it’d be like a diet – restricting certain foods
and the like – but, it’s a way of life.

I test my blood sugar, take insulin and repeat this process
with each meal, snack or late-night craving.

There’s the high blood sugars, which usually means a
headache, or the jittery feeling of a low blood sugar.

Then comes the insulin. If I take enough, I end up somewhere
in the middle – neither high nor low – and where I’m supposed to be.

This daily, sometimes hourly, routine, has meant growing up
quickly. I was shocked to get carded at the movies (with a full beard no less)
the other day, but maybe that’s a good thing.

You see, whether it was grade school sleepovers, pizza
parties or field trips, diabetes was always there. It was there before my mom
signed the permission slip. And when I moved into my new apartment too.

But it’s never stopped me. With diabetes, I can still love,
cherish and love some more.

I can take impromptu weekend trips, work for a TV station
and one day, marry the woman of the dreams.